The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a half-cent sales tax to help repair county roads and bridges.

The county is aiming for the tax to take effect Jan. 1, 2016, said 5th District Commissioner Mike Lee.

“We’ve talked this over quite a bit and it’s something we need to move forward with,” said Glen Mathiason, District 1 commissioner. “It’s the right thing to do to try to help us with our roads.”

Dan Belshan, District 2 commissioner, said the half-cent sales tax wasn’t ideal.

“It’s unfortunate that we have to do this, but due to road funding changes at the state level it’s something that needs to be done,” Belshan said.

The sales tax for the Shell Rock River Watershed District, located within the city limits of Albert Lea, will be 7.875 percent beginning Jan.1. The sales tax outside the city of Albert Lea will be 7.375 percent.

The tax was important to prevent additional costs in the future, Lee said.

Last month he said there is annually about a $6 million deficit in road projects that need to be completed. The tax is expected to raise about $2 million of that amount, leaving a roughly $4 million annual deficit in projects needing completion.

“This is a state problem that is coming down to us,” said Ryan Nolander, Albert Lea Economic Development Agency executive director, of the deficit last month. “We are either going to have to have a large property tax increase or the sales tax to help fund our roads and bridges.”

The state needs to have a transportation plan, Nolander said. He said a funding mechanism still has to be decided for any transportation plan.

“With the number of miles of asphalt we have, if we continue to run this shortfall, there’s a possibility of us having to go back to gravel roads,” Mathiason said last month. “I don’t want to see that. I understand the sales tax isn’t the most popular idea, but citizens outside the county will also contribute.”

In 2014, the county began collecting a tax from residents with motor vehicles, called a wheelage tax, that is also going toward road repairs.

The tax involves $10 per car or truck that is ordinarily stored or parked in Freeborn County during non-business hours or when not in use.

It is paid at the time of tab renewals and doesn’t apply to all-terrain vehicles, boat trailers, collector cars, motorcycles, mopeds or trailers.

Lee said the county will evaluate the wheelage tax in the future and wasn’t sure if the tax will be eliminated.